New Titanium Alloy Materials Stimulate The Aerospace Industry

In the development process of aviation manufacturing, the renewal of materials shows high-speed changes, materials and aircraft continue to develop. "One generation of materials, one generation of aircraft" is a true portrayal of the history of world aviation development. New materials are the important foundation of aviation technology, with the upgrading of traditional industries and the development of high-tech industries as a guide, the aviation industry has become the most dynamic and development potential areas. For the development and application of titanium alloy and other new materials, the reporter recently interviewed Cao Chunxiao, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Reporter: the increasing amount of titanium alloy materials is the basis of aircraft manufacturing, no new materials preparation of high-end technology, the development of the aviation industry is difficult to reach the cutting edge, with the development of the aviation industry and the development of new aviation materials demand compared with previous changes?

Cao Chunxiao: With the development of the aviation industry, the strength of materials, performance requirements are increasingly high. Now more and more composite materials and titanium alloys are used in airplanes and engines. For example, composites were rarely used in airplanes in the 1980s, but have developed rapidly over the years. The latest version of the Boeing 787 composites have been as high as 50 percent and titanium alloys totaled 15 percent, breaking records in the field of civil aircraft. Previously, the Boeing 777 airplane composite material consumption is only about 10%, and titanium alloy usage is only about 8%, beyond the span of imagination.

Composites and titanium alloys these materials have been large-scale application development, there are two main reasons: First, the accumulation of practical experience in materials research and application, the performance and reliability of the material is getting better and better; the second is the accumulation of practical experience in materials research and application. The second is that with the development of manufacturing technology, the price of the material itself is much lower than before. Specifically, the Ti-6AI-4V (TC4) titanium alloy used in the past, while we continue to use it, we have developed new varieties of titanium alloys with higher strength and performance, and after many years of testing, many airplane parts have begun to use new titanium alloys. For example, the Boeing 777 airplane uses Ti1023, β21S and Ti153 grades of β titanium alloys at the same time, which is the first time these three grades of titanium alloys are used in civil airplanes. Airbus A380 aircraft landing gear using Ti1023 titanium alloy forgings weighing 3.2 tons, 4.2 meters long, is currently the world's largest titanium alloy forgings. Titanium alloy has unique properties, so its application prospects are even wider. Take the anti-gunnery ability as an example, due to the titanium alloy composite material of the anti-gunnery ability is better, the United States F-22 fighter aircraft composite material dosage from the original 44.7% to the current 24%, titanium alloy dosage increased to 41% %. The use of aircraft titanium alloy is higher than civil aircraft, but also for the consideration of enhanced combat effectiveness. In addition, a new alloy with high fracture toughness and low fatigue crack extension rate of the emergence of titanium alloys in the aircraft is the main reason for the increasing use of titanium alloys.